Netflix viewers slam new ‘spine-chilling’ Gabby Petito series over ‘deeply unsettling’ detail
Viewers have called Netflix out for their 'deeply unsettling use of AI' in a new documentary about the murder of Gabby Petito.
A new true crime documentary has landed on Netflix, and it's being slammed by viewers for the platform's controversial choice to use AI to tell the story.
The American Murder of Gabby Petito was released just today (17 February), and it details the events leading up to the killing of Petito at the hands of her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie.
Gabby, aged just 22, went missing in August 2021 while travelling across the US in a campervan with Brian.
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After failing to hear from her for weeks - and despite Brian quietly arriving at his family home in Florida and refusing to speak with authorities - her family launched a missing person's campaign on 11 September.
Netflix have chosen to tell the story in the format of a docuseries, including Gabby's private journal entries and text messages from some of her final moments.
But in a move that has been extremely controversial among viewers, the platform used AI voice recreation to have the victim read out her own entries.
One viewer said: "Why did they bring Gabby Petito back from the dead with AI in American Murder?
"Recreating her voice using AI is sooooo messed up."
Another agreed, adding: "I'm watching #AmericanMurderGabbyPetito and HOLY S**T.
"They've used AI voice recreation to have Gabby Petito reading journal entries and text messages from the last months of her life.
"I'm assuming they got permission from the family, but this is a deeply unsettling use of AI."
A third wrote: "Her family may have given the producers a thumbs up on the matter but even so it still feels wrong."
It made some question where the use of AI really stops, as one added: "Not everything needs to be AI'd."
Gabby's body was discovered 19 September 2021, and an autopsy determined that she'd died via 'blunt-force injuries to the head and neck, with manual strangulation' three to four weeks prior.
Days after Gabby's body being found, Brian fled, triggering a nationwide manhunt by police. But in a devastating twist, he was found dead a month later in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida.
An autopsy determined that he died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
A note found next to his body detailed his admission to killing the 22-year-old.
It read: "I ended her life. I thought it was merciful, that it is what she wanted, but I see now all the mistakes I made. I panicked. I was in shock."
Tyla has contacted Netflix for comment.
Topics: Crime, Documentaries, Netflix, TV And Film, True Crime, Gabby Petito
Mia Williams